Same here. Started that already and need to make a run to the
bookstore.

Check this article in WSJ. Food as an investment. Bottom line is,
things look....not good.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html
excerpt:
Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the
returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or
money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on
the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.
"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top
investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund.
"I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think
it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies
can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker
Strategic)
Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it
may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the
math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be
lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate
of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according
to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.
Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the
average American household is now running at 4.5% a year.
And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show
cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up
more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're
all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground
beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.
These are trends that have been in place for some time.
And if you are hoping they will pass, here's the bad news: They may
actually accelerate.

Going for it this weekend.
For both dad and I, and my sister's family. Canned and dry goods.
Things that store.
Thank gods I had a tax return. Was going to use it for debt reduction
but I've partially changed my mind.

Good on ya! Both my boys were here this morning, I had sent them this
article. They took off for the store and are beginning to build their
inventory. I found buckets and gaskets lids at the lumberyard and we
are going to start packing soon. The grocery in town carries dry ice,
so we're set on that account.
Don't forget seeds. Heirlooms if possible. This year I intend to hit
the stores at the end of the planting season and buy large quantities
of seeds, hybrids and all, when they go on sale for next to nothing and
pack some longterm buckets of them. Cheap insurance, one shot for the
hybrids, but a seasons worth of food anyway.

Same here.

Sure isn't, but if folks think things thru, prepare to whatever degree
they feel is prudent, and learn to simplify, some may make it ok. We
have been discussing making the shift right now, as if things had
downturned severely already, both to increase our skills and to get in
the mindset of making do with less. Plus it will be healthier. And
save us some cash that we can use on necessities.

It is going to be difficult... very, very difficult for many, if not
most of us. You, like us, have family. This is a great benefit.
Community of some sort is a necessary aspect of making it thru
difficult times.
G'luck to you and all of us.
Charlie

O.K., Way too much fun going on here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/23/usa2
Spectre of food rationing hits US
The spectre of food rationing arose in America today as retailers began
imposing limits on rice and flour sales following bulk purchases by
customers alarmed by rocketing global prices for staple foods.
Wal-Mart's cash-and-carry division, Sam's Club, announced that it would
only sell a maximum of four bags of rice per person to prevent supplies
from running short.
Its decision followed sporadic caps placed on purchases of rice and
flour by certain store managers at a rival bulk chain, Costco, in parts
of California.
The commodity cost of rice hit an all-time high on the Chicago Board of
Trade this week and in some stores, retail prices have doubled over the
course of a few weeks.
Retail experts said there was little evidence of "panic" hoarding by the
public - but that restaurants and smaller retailers were buying up
stocks at warehouse wholesalers in the expectation that the cost was
heading even higher. Shops said Filippino residents in the US were also
making large purchases to send to relatives in the Philippines, where a
shortage of supplies is causing concern.
"What you're seeing is people who buy in larger quantities, who have a
restaurant or a corner store, stocking up because of media reports that
prices could go higher," said Dave Heylen, a spokesman for the
Californian Grocers' Association.
Since the beginning of the year, rice producing countries including
China, India, Vietnam and Egypt have imposed limits on exports in order
to keep prices down at home. This week, a top World Bank official
predicted that Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, might follow
in restricting shipments.
Restrictions at Sam's Club, which has 580 warehouse stores across the
US, apply to Jasmine, Basmati and long grain white rices - the type
typically used for dishes such as curry. The chain said the limits were
"due to recent supply and demand trends".
At Costco, chief executive James Sinegal said only very large purchases
would face sanctions: "If a customer came in and said 'I want 10 pallets
of flour', we'd probably say, 'No we can't give you that. We can give
you one pallet.'"
The owner of one restaurant in Oakland told a local television station
that the price of a typical sack of rice had risen from $20 to $40 in a
matter of weeks. Son Tran of the Le Cheval Vietnamese restaurant said
his stockpiles were dwindling - and that the price of some vegetables
had also risen by as much as 50%.
Industry leaders sought to calm fears. Tim Johnson, chief executive of
the California Rice Commission, said there was no prospect of an overall
shortage of food - and that stores' supplies were quickly being
replenished.
"The reality is, at least for the next several years, we've seen a new
level for what food costs are going to be in the US and probably
internationally, too," said Johnson, who added that a typical serving of
rice cost less than 10 cents. "It's still the best deal on your plate."
------
Enjoy dinner tonight;-)

Screw Sam's. The Asian market in Austin has a LOT more rice for a lot
better prices! In fact they have a LOT of healthy, bulk dry goods as
well as some of the more tasty canned goods for lower prices.
I'll clean out the back of my truck and make a trip down there. I
usually freeze or refrigerate bulk rice since I have the space to do so.

We need to so the same with wheat and corn here. Start using more of it
domestically instead of selling it. Take care of home FIRST!

And be sure to add beans...
Beans are also very easy and fast to grow. I'm planning on putting in a
bunch and doing only container gardening to save on water.

Yep......way too much, way too fast.
I just flipped on the news infotainment and lo and beshit, msnbc is
all over this rationiong of rice and the dire outlook for crops,
worldwide and domestically.
Eff me, gonna be a run food. Followed by runs on what else, I wonder.
Last night, before it rained again, I converted on of the flower beds
to a salad and root bed. I used Bill W's anecdotal method, small
scale, and broadcast assorted greens and roots.
Ah me, last night I read an article about the shit going down in Haiti.
Children getting two spoonsful of rice for a meal and the helplessness
felt by their parents.
Charlie, who is all over the place emotionally about "things"

Your way of life encourages me. I hope it is on account of our seeing
the handwriting and divining the tea leaves and bones correctly, not
cuz we're both nutz. ;-) Seriously, thanks, I appreciate being of
similar mind.
Wanna see my latest gotta have, really really need it and I can't
afford it Tool? <drool, drool, slurp>
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp ;jsessionid=2UFEMELPMQVRPLAQBBKCCNNMCAEFKIWE?id 39860228161a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=air+rifles+raptor&NH87&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=air+rifles+raptor&noImage=0
It's a really long link...if it breaks, try doing a followup and then
indent the link a space...sometimes that makes it whole.
Have fun tomorrow, I am envious, and don't forget seasonings and sauces
to break the tedium.
Charlie

I'm not arguing your point, but I am wondering about a front skull
shot, or thru the ear canal, from *very* close range.....much the same
as the shot one uses dropping a steer.
Hold On Now......Just found this!!
Check out this video at Gamo....guy shoots wild pig....dead!!
http://www.gamousa.com//Catalog.aspx?Action=Videos
It's the first video in the list...hunting experience.
Hell, maybe I am arguing the point now! ;-)
My 1100 fps gamo pokes a hole thru a 5/4 cypress board neat as you
please.
These Raptor pellets look good.
http://www.airgunsbbguns.com/GAMO_RAPTOR_Pellets_p/garaptor177.htm
I just bought some hollow point pellets to try on frogs this year.
Hopefully they will have more shock to them and stop them leaping out
and making me get me arse soaked retrieving them.
Man, mess of frogs sounds good.
Charlie

Thanx, Charlie.
My propane powered ISP (26K) precludes my being able to look at
videos.
That 1100 fps sounds pretty good, but those raptor pellets put out
11.2 lb/in2 -- kinda low for me.
Of course, I am dealing with a pretty cheap punp-it-up gun. I see
that there are some pretty sophisticated ones out there that I can
charge from the compressor in the barn and chop down oak trees.
cheers
oz

That deer hunt is interesting, but the 50 cal ball is somewhat larger
than I am used to. Looks like some really sophisticated stuff around
that I was unaware of.
If I were going that big, I would probably stir up my own black powder
and cast my own bullets :-)
cheers
oz, who is almost too old to draw his bow*, but still manages a deer
with it on lucky days.
*and no puns from you with dirty minds.

pistol. I like my Bushmaster Varminter. It's guts are AR-15 so it's easy
to care for and it's built for long distance shooting. My current top
shot with it on prairie dog os 430 yards. It fires .223 but the muzzle
velocity is 3,200 fps.
For deer tho', I'd use the Winchester model 88 .308 lever action.

...realizing I am getting further and further off topic.....but
WTH......
I used to think I was a pretty good hunter when I lived in
CO,WY,ID,WA,and OR. What I actually was was a good marksman. I
found, in the NW coastal rainforest and, later, when I moved to the
Ozarks, I had no idea how to HUNT. Took me a while in the woods to
figure it out. That is when I started using a bow and a Win 94.

Excellent rifle! Back in the late 50's, when I finally had enough
money to buy a rifle, as a leftie, I almost got one, but ended up with
a Sav 110L left hand bolt.
I often wish I had gotten the 88.

If you can draw a compound of 50 or so pounds, surprisingly little
practice will have you hitting a paper plate at 30 yds 3 out of 5.
cheers
oz, who, as a teen, went out frogging with the state champion (long
bow) archer. I positioned the boat so he could skewer them on logs.
Fantastic!

Indeed. ;-) My hand-loading guru talked me into prairie dog hunting the
second week in April. I felt like such an evil bitch, but I learned a
lot about long distance precision shooting with the BV. My best shot was
430 yards, but most were made at about 300 yards.
I did bring home some wild rabbit meat tho'... so not all was a waste.

There are different modes of hunting. ;-) What you are doing is REAL
hunting. Learning to stalk. Well done!

Dad gave it to me for my 16th birthday. As hard as it kicks, it's one
of my favorite guns. I'm learning to handload for it. .308 is pricey now.
As is most ammo. :-(

I took archery in college so I understand the concept. I'd just have to
PRACTICE!

Step Aside Dollar, Is Rice the New Global Currency?
http://alternet.org/audits/83345 /
Excerpt:
Never before in history has hunger become a global threat in a period
of plentiful harvests. Global rice production will hit a record of 423
million tons in the 2007-2008 crop year, enough to satisfy global
demand. The trouble is that only 7% of the world's rice supply is
exported, because local demand is met by local production. Any
significant increase in rice stockpiles cuts deeply into available
supply for export, leading to a spike in prices. Because such a small
proportion of the global rice supply trades, the monetary shock from
the weak dollar was sufficient to more than double its price.
It is not only rice, of course, that the cash-rich countries of the
world are buying as a store of value; the price of wheat, soy and other
grains has risen almost as fast. This might deal the death-blow to
America's hapless efforts to stabilize the Middle East, where a higher
proportion of impoverished people eat off state subsidies than in any
other part of the world. Egypt has been the anchor for American
diplomacy in the Arab world since the Jimmy Carter administration (1977
to 1981), and is most susceptible to hunger. Food prices have risen by
145% in Lebanon and by 20% in Syria this year. Iraqis depend on food
subsidies financed by American aid.

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